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“My name is here presented more to be understood than to be read” said once a #Roman senator.
For my #EarlyMedievalPills, let’s explore what monograms can tell us about changes in political culture & social communication between late antiquity & #Carolingian times.1/

Monogrammatic culture has its roots in the #classical world. Producers used monograms to mark mass-produced objects such as pottery. We also see them on Hellenistic coins. However, they didn’t encode the name of the issuing authority, but functioned as control marks.2/

Influenced by Hellenistic models, #Roman emperors adopted monograms on their coins. They were used to encode the emperor’s name thus becoming personal graphic devices that could also mark certain objects the trade of which was an imperial monopoly.3/

When visiting #Rome, tourists usually (and comprehensibly) focus on its #ancient remains. Today for the series #EarlyMedievalPills I'll take you through the #Carolingian city of Pope Paschal I (817-24) who, in only 7 years, left a permanent mark on #Roma's sacred topography 1/11

First I need to tell you about his family: he was the son of Bonosus and Theodora and he was very attached to his mother whom he wanted to be immortalised in the stunning #mosaics decorating that little jewel that is the Chapel of St Zeno in Santa Prassede #Roma 2/11

"Theodora Episcopa": lots of speculation about the reasons why she was called bishop-ess. Two possibilities: either Paschal I's father was a bishop and the honorific title extended to his wife, or Paschal paid homage to his mother by granting her a title of distinction 3/11